Last update - 00:00 19/10/2006
Court orders illegal fences on Lake Kinneret beaches razed
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent
A number of fences and abandoned buildings illegally situated on Lake Kinneret beaches are to be razed by next month, the Beit She'an Magistrate's Court ruled on Thursday.
The ruling was made in response to eight separate lawsuits, filed by the northern district committee for building and planning, calling for the destruction of structures standing illegally on beaches under the jurisdiction of the Jordan Valley Regional Council.
The structures are set to be destroyed by next month, but ruling can be appealed at any point before then.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel said there are at least 120 illegally-constructed fences surrounding Lake Kinneret.
The process of enforcing the building and planning law with regard to these structures began in June 2005, and has been supervised by delegates from the Interior Ministry. The destruction of the structures is to be the final phase of this process.
The head of building supervision for the northern district, David Ohion, said, "this is a nice achievement, we must remember that there has been hardly any enforcement or punishment with regard to Lake Kinneret. The gathering of figures, documentation and preparation of drafts and measurements took a number of months. This is difficult work, consistent and decisive."
SPNI's Nir Papai praised the court's decision, calling it "the first time there is to be such a scope of fence removal. We must remember that in the last year and a half there was no illegal construction on Kinneret beaches, and it is significant that the supervision is there to respond to illegal activities," he said.
But he added, "it is still just a drop in the water. The obligation of then-Interior Minister, Ophir Pines-Paz, was not implemented. The addition of a supervisor should have been achieved much earlier and at a much wider scope."